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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  December 9, 2013 6:00am-8:01am PST

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we can't wait to share that with you tomorrow, chris cuomo. soak it all in for us, brother, soak it all in. >> see you soon, chris. >> will do. >> we'll talk to you tomorrow. that's it for us. now to john berman for carol costello in "the newsroom." >> happy monday, everyone. frustrating monday morning up and down the east coast. "newsroom" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning everyone. it's john berman. carol costello is off today. the calendar says we're 12 days away from the official start of winter. try telling that to folks in the northeast and across much of the country. look at this picture from st. louis, a storm system that has dumped plenty of ice and snow from texas to pennsylvania, has killed at least seven people, it's expected to keep causing problems today. this is already making for a
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very messy commute in the mid-atlantic states and the northeast, this is a live look from the white house, federal buildings in washington will open two hours late today because of the weather. on the roads, heavy snow and ice have led to downright treacherous conditions. at least 50 crashes reported yesterday along this five-mile stretch of i-94 between chicago and milwaukee, 50 crashes and yonkers, new york, police say 30 people were injured in a 24-plus car pile-up on the bronx river parkway last night, that's an unbelievable shot there. as for unbelievable take a look at this. >> oh, my god! >> oh, my. that's sheets of ice cass indicating down from buildings, crashing onto cars in the dallas area. that will leave a mark, folks. in philadelphia, philadelphia really got it, too, setting a daily record with more than eight inches of snow, what a football game it was, too,
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didn't stop the philadelphia eagles from defeating the detroit lions with the help of some crews on the field to clear things up. the weather has been blamed for more than 3,700 canceled flights, talk about frustration b 1,100 flights planned for today. ed lavandera is at dallas-ft. worth international airport where it has been a frustrating couple days and hundreds of traveler, ed, spent the night. >> reporter: yes, there have been enough people sleeping here in the terminals of dfw international airport to populate a small texas town. 4,000 people friday night, that was down to 650 last night, and they're hoping, they're hoping that things start turning around today. >> this is day four, dallas-ft. worth international airport. times are getting desperate. >> reporter: growing frustrations for thousands of passengers after being stranded at the dallas-ft. worth international airport since friday. james archibald of canada is one of them.
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>> i just don't understand why they can't get the ice off the runway. i'm from canada. we've got four, five feet of snow on the runway, boom, plows go by. i know it's for our own safety but it's getting a bit silly. >> reporter: mr. archibald is posting video updates on youtube chronicling his misadventure in north texas as he waits out the weather, he's amusing himself by interviewing other travelers stuck at the gates. >> i'm going home. i don't like this place. >> reporter: oh you mean this isn't your home? >> it is right now. they say home is where you lay your head down. >> reporter: on friday, nearly 700 flights or about 90% of the total were canceled, about 400 more on sunday. these newlyweds were on their honeymoon and trying to get to cancun, mexico, when the storm grounded them. the couple from tokyo slept in chairs like so many others. some were lucky enough to get cots. the cancellations continued through the weekend while airport workers provided some
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food and drinks to travelers. they also brought in jugglers, illustrators and balloon artists but that was little relief for some. >> have you showered in four days? >> no. >> reporter: the temperature was above freezing at the airport for about five hours on sunday, that helped crews clear ice from the runways. and dfw airport officials say four out of the seven runways are functional here at dfw airport, up from the worst point only two and because of the four runways are now operational, they can handle full capacity flight schedules so check in with your airlines as you move through, because a lot of the flights headed from here to the east coast today will have many problems so check in with your airlines before you start moving around in the airport and you can avoid sleeping here tonight. john? >> some great advice, ed lachb de la in dallas. thanks to everyone watching us in airports around the country today. we know there are a lot of you and hope you can get to the showers soon.
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they're among the biggest names in the tech world and yahoo! google and facebook and others are taking aim at how the nsa does business, demanding that the spy agency change its ways. alison kosik in new york with an update on this. >> these are a who's who of wall street, tech giants apple, google, facebook, microsoft, linkedin, twitter and aol banning together and put a letter to president obama and congress and looking to change the way that the government snoops on us while we're online and more specificcally trying to limit the information and collection of information on us. the tech leaders are worried if people won't use their technology because they don't trust it, that will hurt them in the long run. president obama said the nsa does not listen in on phone calls but outside the borders
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the president says the nsa is more aggressive. the idea of big brother keeping track of our activity online just not sitting well with these companies. john? >> so alison, here is the thing. i feel like facebook and google know more about me than my wife does. isn't it a little bit hypocritical for some of the companies to talk about privacy issues? >> i think it is a little bit of hypocrisy going on. google and yahoo! collect information. it's the bread and butter of their revenue is to collect our information, so they can put those ads strategically where they want them and here is more proof as to why this speaks of hypocri hypocrisy. last month goingal greed to pay $17 million to settle a lawsuit that it place cookies on computers using apple's safari web browser for a two-year period without getting authorization. google was able to circumvent safari's privacy settings without users knowing or consenting to it. another offender, facebook,
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facebook collects more data than you can imagine. "consumer reports" said last year facebook got a report every time you visited a site with a "like" button even if you never clicked the "like" button. the companies are doing the very thing they're accusing the government of. i think people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. >> privacy clearly a relative term. alson kosik, appreciate it. the nsa's activities did not stop with e-mails or cell phones of foreign leaders. the agency also spied on "world of warcraft" and "second life" games. the reason? the agency feared terrorists and other criminals would use the games to plot attacks. the reports claim nsa agents went so far as to create make believe characters collecting data between other players and a spokeswoman declined to comment to the "new york times."
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it's being called one of the largest gatherings of world leaders in africa's history, really world history. officials are preparing to welcome some 91 current and ten former heads of state for the memorial for nelson mandela. among them, president obama, who along with first lady michelle obama left washington about an hour ago for south africa, expected to arrive in johannesburg early tomorrow morning. joining them will be former presidents bill clinton and george w. bush, david cameron and ban ki-moon among scores of other dignitaries. errol barnett in johannesburg for us. tomorrow is taking place in soccer city during the world cup, a huge stadium, 90,000 plus seats. given the interest and the crowds behind you now, will that be big enough to accommodate everybody? >> reporter: in a word, john,
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no, and that's why the government has facilitated three, count them three overthrow stadiums for people who want to attend tuesday's memorial service, plus they will be broadcasting the ceremony via livestream to 90 big screens set up all over the country. john, i'm not sure how many university football games you've been to but what's happening around me now you could compare to a battle of the bonds. over my right shoulder a south african group, over my left a nigerian group who has come here and outside nelson mandela's home where he passed away late thursday evening to add to the euphoria and celebrations here, paying respects to a man who is credited for bringing this nation together, facilitating the first democratic elections and becoming first democratically elected president, first black president as well. you mentioned the 91 heads of state coming, truly is stunning when you look at not only barack obama, but a number of former
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presidents, george w. bush, jimmy carter and bill clinton as you mentioned. let's not forget the rest of the world is interested, prince kar charles on his way, the brazilian president and french president, u.n. secretary-general and more. as a way of facilitating this massive logistical challenge the government deployed some 11,000 troops to make sure as the interest builds it's on the fourth of the tenth day of mourning people are safe and there are no snags having so many vips here in the country. tomorrow's event, the tuesday memorial service which possibly could be attended by the u.s. president will be the first formal event, followed by nelson mandela's lying in-state at the union building in pretoria wednesday through friday. significant, john, because it was 20 years ago he was sworn in as president at that location. so a euphoric week for a country bidding farewell to a man they credit for bringing people together. >> errol barnett, with
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unshakeable concentration in johannesburg, the celeb brags going on around you, a fitting tribute to nelson mandela, thank you so much. the bcs game the tightlogical go out with a bang, florida state battling auburn, auburn wrapped up a worst to first season in the sec and florida state took the acc championship now the seminoles and tigers tangle january 6th it will be the last college football crown decided before next season's playoff format begins finally. rachel nichols joins me to talk about all this. >> absolutely. the ohio state buckeyes saved everyone a lot of trouble. i know ohio state fans aren't exactly going to feel the same way about this. remember, going into the weekend, florida state and ohio state were the ones set up to play in the national championship game and that meant that auburn, which has had this crazy miracle last month was going to be on the outside looking in. we were going to have to brace
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ourselves for weeks of controversy. guess what? ohio state lost to michigan state in the big ten title game on saturday night, bam! auburn gets their spot, no more controversy. so we'll expect a quiet next few weeks and at least the people who did run the bcs system for the past 16 years can say hey, in our last hurrah, number one versus number two playing each other. everyone is really excited for this game. the problem is we have to wait another month, they don't play until january 6th. >> apologies to ohio state, a lot of people think this is ending the way it should with florida state against auburn. as the quarterback for florida state, there is jameis winston, heisman balloting ends today. can anyone beat him? >> it doesn't officially close the balloting until the end of business today but i'll be like election night on cnn, just going to call it right now, saying jameis winston will win the heisman trophy. he's a red shirt freshman but
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hasn't played like it. on the field he has been sensational. to give you an idea how he's keyed the turnaround of that program when he leads the seminoles to the national title game next month it will be on his 20th birthday. the last time they played in the title game he was 5 years old so that is a remarkable change for that program. off the field, of course, it's been a much different story for the past month, winston has been under investigation under sexual assault charges but toward the end of last week the district attorney announced he did not have enough evidence to charge winston's side maintained the whole time he is not guilty of anything and with all of his legal issues now cleared up, you can expect they will be announcing his name for the heisman trophy this coming saturday night. >> rachel nichols, thank you for guaranteeing a heisman win. watch "unguarded with rachel nichols" friday night 10:30 eastern only on cnn. still to come for us, after
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only eight days of marriage, eight days a montana woman is accused of shoving her husband off a mountain to his death. what her defense team is saying about the circumstances surrounding this strange case, coming up next. play close. good and close. discover the new way to help keep teeth clean and breath fresh. new beneful healthy smile food and snacks. he'll love the crunch of the healthy smile kibbles.
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checking top stories, 11 more pilot whales have been found dead in florida, that brings to 22 the number that have died in the last week there. officials believe the whales are part of a pod of 51 whales. scientists are working to find out what is killing them. bob filner is in court to face sentencing for kissing and
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grabbing three women. filner resigned from office after 19 women accused him of offensive behavior during his tenure as mayor and as a u.s. congressman. he's not expected to go to jail but he will be on probation for three years. fans of rival brazilian soccer teams brawled in the middle of a match on sunday. look at this. this game was stopped for more than an hour as police fired tear gas into the stands at one point a helicopter landed on the field to take away an injured fan. brazil is hosting next year's world cup. jury selection begins in the murder trial of a montana woman accused of shoving her husband off of a cliff. jordan graham and cody johnson had been married only eight days when prosecutors say graham pushed him with both hands off of a cliff in glacier national park. the defense said it was not intentional, they say graham was acting in self-defense after a heated argument. is it ef know elam picks up the story from there.
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>> reporter: what started as a wedding is ending in a courtroom trial. >> reporter: did you kill cody, did you mean to push your husband off a cliff? >> reporter: this month, jordan lynn graham will go on trial for murder. federal prosecutors say the 22-year-old deliberately shoved her 25-year-old husband to his death off of a cliff july 7th, eight days after their wedding. friends of cody johnson say they noticed problems from the start. >> when they were exchanging vows, jordan was looking down and wasn't looking at cody. >> reporter: graham's attorneys are claiming it was an accident, saying the couple started arguing, and that when she tried to remove her husband's hand from her arm, he lost his balance. investigators say she initially did not report the incident and was lying when she later told them johnson had driven away with friends. she later admitted she was having second thoughts about the marriage but pleaded not guilty to murder and making a false statement but other explosive
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charges in this case have drawn national attention, prosecutors are saying they have evidence jordan may have blindfolded her husband before pushing him. while graham attorneys are claiming prosecutorial misconduct, inappropriate touches during polygraph testing. the fbi denies the claim. cody's friends have already made up their mind. >> he didn't deserve whatever end she gave him. >> reporter: if convicted, graham faces life in prison. stephanie elam, cnn, los angeles. >> what a case that is. ahead, two teens charged in connection with a drunk driving death of one of their friends, but they were not behind the wheel. why police chose to file charges, that's coming up right after the break. [ male announcer ] if you can clear a crowd but not your nasal congestion, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion
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two connecticut teens have been charged in the drunk driving death of one of their friends. police say the driver, 17-year-old jane valeski had a blood alcohol level of 0.27, three times the legal limit for an adult. two of the girls who were riding with her have been charged with reckless endangerment for allowing her to drive drunk. cnn's pamela brown is here with more. pamela, this is an unusual case. >> it really is. and john, it draws into focus the issue of whether you can be held responsible for letting someone else get behind the wheel drunk. now police in glastonbury,
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connecticut, say the teens knew their friend was drunk but let her drive. they say that inaction cost their friend their life. now they face misdemeanor charges for being an accessory to a crime. 17-year-old jane was driving alone in connecticut in july, when he she crashed the suv she was driving into a tree and was killed. her blood alcohol level according to police was 0.7, three times the legal adult alcohol limit. now, two of the four teen ainag who were driving with her are being held accountable for allowing her to drive drunk. >> these two juveniles knew she shouldn't have been driving and allowed her to drive. >> reporter: glastonbury police say the two teens were the last to get out of the car, leaving woleski to get behind the wheel and drive herself off. she drove half a mile before crashing. after a thorough investigation, police arrested the teens this month and charged them with reckless endangerment.
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>> there are so many things that could have been done, so many things, and worried about getting in trouble for sneaking out, is that really that important? >> reporter: the arrests sent shock waves through the glastonbury community, still shaken up on the tragedy. one friend wrote "today brought me and many others i'm sure right back to the week you left us." the case is once again raising questions about moral obligation versus legal responsibility. >> we expect adults to react with a certain degree of judgment and unreasonableness. when somebody is 16 years old it's sort of hard to place the kind of criminal responsibility on them that we would place on an adult who handed keys to a drunken driver. >> and legal expert paul callan also said in the past, adults and bartenders have been prosecuted for letting people drive drunk but it's extremely rare, john, as you point out earlier, for people this young
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to be prosecuted for something like this, and it's likely going to send a strong message about underaged drinking and meantime the two teens will appear in court later this month. we will be following this story. >> i've never heard anything like this. it will be interesting to see if teens stand up and take notice. pamela brown, thank you. if you are one of amc movie theater's biggest fans, membership has its privileges. alison kosik tells you why. alison? >> john, why don't you come with me to the movie theater lobby, grab popcorn and stock, yes you heard, amc theaters says it will make it that eetz easy to buy in the soon to be public company. those details are coming up. for over a decade
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they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some financial folks who will talk to them about preparing early for retirement and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. welcome back, everyone. i'm john berman in for carol costello today. we have the opening bell ringing
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on wall street, where stocks are on solid footing this morning after that better than expected jobs report on friday. market opening up just a little bit today and soon traders will be tracking a new addition to the new york stock exchange. amc theaters moving to go public. some of the customer also reap rewards. alison kosik has more on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. quickly stocks got to mention stocks because the market's still in the afterflow of the strong jobs report along with the drop in unemployment to 7%. the optimism fueled by a jump in economic growth in the third quarter as well. the thought was that investors would sell because of worries the fed would pull back on stimulus. now it seems like the market's not bothered by it because the thinking at the moment is the economy could be strong enough to handle it. amc, it's all about that stock, a little popcorn, a little stock. amc theaters gearing up to go public at the new york stock exchange expected to happen at the end of the month and it will
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reward its most loyal 2.5 million customers, they have a chance to buy shares usually reserved for the big investors. in a letter from the company's ceo from jerry lopez, he says members of the amc stubs rewards program will be offered the same price as the big banks and large wall street institutions, meaning the little guy gets to buy the shares a day before they go public so finally, john, finally the little guy can get in on the action, just like the big guys. john? >> maybe a little hot buttered stock to go with your popcorn and movie. >> there you go. >> alison kosik, thanks so much, appreciate it. checking some of the top story this is morning, american airlines and u.s. airway also officially become the world's largest airline today after the merger beat a number of legal challenges. the new company will be called american airlines and trade on the nasdaq under the symbol aal. in the next hour of "cnn newsroom" i will be speaking with the ceo of american airlines, doug parker, that's coming up at 10:15. if you have questions, tweet us now.
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the railroad line involved in that deadly train derailment in new york is announcing new safety upgrades. metro north will reinstall reinforcements at critical curves and signal alerts. the train jumped the tracks hitting a curb at 82 miles per hour, nearly three times the posted speed limit. a deadly ice storm that dumped plenty of snow and ice from texas to philadelphia is expected to slam the northeast again today, driving in many places just downright dangerous. this is a 24-car pile-up that left 34 people injured in yonkers, new york, last night. indra petersons with all the trouble from the ice and heavy snow. >> reporter: snow, freezing rain and dangerous ice. >> oh! oh, my god. >> reporter: in texas, residents captured video of ice cascading
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from rooftops. >> oh my god. >> reporter: another winter storm is wreaking havoc across much of the nation. the frigid storm put dallas in a deep freeze over the weekend and made a mess from the ohio valley to the northeast. road crews were out in full force plowing and salting streets. >> we're not going to stop until the roads are clear. >> reporter: the wintry mix created treacherous conditions on major roadways. >> it's been rough. every year people forget how to drive in the snow. >> reporter: the dangerous mix of snow and ice caused this 50-car pile-up on the pennsylvania turnpike, killing at least one person. roads and highways in the milwaukee area also had their share of problems, three separate wrecks involving over 100 cars, buses in ditches, semitrailers jack-knifed, causing a number of injuries. >> it was bad. you could barely see up the road, just swerving through cars, dodging cars and we ended up in a ditch. >> reporter: heavy snow was the headline in at least four nfl
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games sunday, blowing snow made it nearly impossible for fans to tell exactly where the ball was. the football field looked more like ice rinks with players slipping and sliding. at the eagles/lions game snow measured as high as six inches in the middle of the field. >>le you need any kind of help, john, right? >> reporter: the lions fumbled six times before halftime. >> what a mess. indra petersons joins me now live. the question is, how much longer is this thing going to stick around? >> i wish i had better news and of course we still have that system in place and this morning, think about poor dallas, everything they endured and yes they had a freezing fog advisory this morning, starting to lift out of the region at least near the airport. in the northeast we're dealing with conditions here where we continue to notice the radar to have a threat of a wintry mix. the system is trying to make its way out of here. notice you'll see we have the threat not only for freezing rain out there but for another system behind it. the snow that we saw is exiting
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off to the northeast but the tail end of this system that we're dealing with in the northeast, this guy is going to crawl up the east coast and by overnight tonight in through tomorrow another round of this wintry mix primarily though this time a little bit better, not as much freezing rain, primarily just the snow and the rain, but i can tell you myself, since i had ten hours' worth of delays last week, low visibility and fog alone could mean more delays tomorrow. take it from me, john. >> i was going to say get comfortable at those airports, keep your eyes on cnn, we'll keep you posted. indra petersons, thanks so much, appreciate it. still to come for us, eight caseis of meningitis b reported at princeton university. now students can get a vaccine, but it's one that's not yet licensed in the united states. stay with us. 1ñp
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princeton university begins offering students meningitis b vaccinations today. eight cases of meningitis b have been reported at the university since march. the cdc signed off on the use of the vaccine baxcera currently not licensed in the united states. doctor joins us via skype, chief of the university of medical center princeton at plainsborough. why this vaccine? do you think it will contain the cases in princeton? >> yes, this is for sero type b,
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the sero type of meningitis involved in the outbreak at princeton university so yes this vaccine will help contain the outbreak at the university. >> you're calling it an outbreak, is the vaccine enough? if i were a parent of a kid there i'd be awfully worried. >> the vaccine is only part of the measure that we advised. containment involves a lot of issues, the transmission of meningitis can occur generally with saliva, so we advised them not to share saliva in terms of kissing, sharing cups, sharing cigarettes. that's our first, the first thing we try to do, make sure that they don't share saliva. the vaccine is the other thing we try to do. we make sure that they have meningitis vaccine upon entry into college but the meningitis vaccine only covers sero types a, c, y and w.
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the meningitis currently circulate something serotype b and this new vaccine will cover type b. >> i don't mean to be glib but no kissing at college has to be a tough sell. any sense this outbreak is still spreading at this point? >> the latest case was in late november, and right now, we haven't had any recent cases since then. >> that's good news. as an expert on this, this vaccine has not yet been licensed here in the united states. does that give you any concern as you're making it available to all the students at the university? >>le with, right now it's actually been licensed in europe as of january of this year and also in australia as of august of this year. as you know, it's currently in clinical trials here in the u.s. and because of the outbreak at princeton university the fda and cdc made it available for the university students here in princeton. >> we certainly hope it works and achieves the goals you would like it to achieve.
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meningitis on a college camp success a scary sounding lining. dr. bhalla, thank you for being us, at the university medical center in princeton. >> thank you. up next for us, the backlash against seaworld mounts. moved by a cnn documentary about the treatment of captive whales, another band is refusing to perform at the theme work. here's martin savidge with more. >> this is the third band backing out of its gig with seaworld. we'll tell you who it is and tell you who may be next. john? ♪ [ chicken caws ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums!
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checking top stories now the fha is pulling back on big mortgages, a sign it sees the real estate market getting stronger, starting next year the agency will reduce the top limits of loans it ensures while maintaining the current limits in areas where home prices are lower. the fha raised limits during the
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housing market meltdown to help more home buyers. yes, you are seeing things clearly, that is the first lady and president obama rocking out to snoop lion, formerly snoop dogg, among other names with a star studded crowd at the annual kennedy center honors, among the honorees, billy joel, carlos santana and jazz legend herbie hanco hancock, receiving highest honors. another rock band is cutting ties with seaworld. this is the latest protest move following the cnn documentary "blackfish." the rock band duo heart says it will not perform at seaworld because of concerns over the waterpark's treatment of captive killer whales. willie nelson and the barenaked ladies also canceled their shows at seaworld. martin savidge is live in atlanta with the latest. martin, the list keeps on
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growing here. >> it does indeed, john. would you think that would be a worry to seaworld although they say it is not bands, brews and barbecue is the name of the festival seaworld scheduled in february. there seems to be a musical protest going on and the latest group is now bringing the number to three. >> reporter: millions tunds in to see the critically acclaimed "blackfish" when it aired on cnn in october. the film has fuelled the controversial debate over keeping killer whales in captivity. >> i think they're meant to be in the "buckwild" and that's what it should be. >> i would rather see them out like in international habitats. >> petitions on change.org have amassed thousands of signatures coming on seaworld to free its killer whales. and pressured several musical groups to pull out of its theme
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park taking notice of the public outcry. "heart" has chosen to decline their performance in february through to the film "blackfish." and they're not a loan. country music singer willie nelson and bare naked ladies explained to their fans, we don't feel comfortable proceeding with a gig at this time. seaworld releases a statement regarding the cancellation which says in part, while we're disappointed that a small group of miss informed individuals with able to deny fans that would have been great concerts at seaworld, we respect the bands' decisions. seaworld signature killer whale performances came to halt in 2010. the film highlights the tragic
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death of this man and raises questions about the practices at seaworld and the treatment of their whiles in captivity. seaworld says the documentary ignores the conversation vags and -- there are still a bunch of bands still performing. it also should be pointed out that despite all of this negative publicity you might think for seaworld, seaworld's profits this way on their way to another record. john. >> that's interesting. didn't know that. martin savidge in atlanta. thank you very much. it will be interested to see if more bands follow suit. all knew for us in the next hour of "newsroom." imagine waking up after a quick flight. the only person on a dark, cold plane. you were all alone and you can't get out. >> i woke up and the lights were out. i was like, what's going on? >> so this actually happened to this guy.
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he thought he was dreaming. stuck in a plane with the doors locked. hear more of what he says happened after he dozed off. that's all new, coming up at 10:00. stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the new flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare. ♪ [ male announcer ] the parking lot helps by letting us know who's coming. the carts keep everyone on the right track. the power tools introduce themselves. all the bits and bulbs keep themselves stocked.
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what is subpoenaa sunday in.
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we saw snow every where and record setting scoring and a bunch of sensational finishes. andy scholes joins us now to talk about one of the craziest sundays you will see in the nfl ever. >> the snowstorm that made its way across the northeast definitely made for fun atmospheres. there were blizzard like conditions in pittsburgh, baltimore and philadelphia. check out the snow plow in philadelphia. get out of the way, i'm trying to work here. and the dolphins, they look like fish out of the water trying to deal with the conditions in pittsburgh. but the arctic blast was the worst in philly. he gets a face full of snow on this catch. that's incredible. now ground crews did their best trying to improve the playing conditions all day. it was tough. the lions fumbled seven times. the teams wouldn't even try to
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kick field goals. it was fun for us to watch at home. but it had to be tough for the players. the helped facilitate some crazy finishes. in the span of 20 minutes, three games ended in wild fashion. vikings dash ravens, the two teams combined to score five touchdowns in the final two minutes of the game. the ravens got the win. and then two minutes later. the steellers needed a touchdown to win. antonio brown breaks free for the score. but he stepped out of the bounds. the game would end on that play. dolphins win. then a few minutes later, the patriots made an amazing comeback, scored a touchdown, got an yon side kick and scored another touchdown. and they beat the browns. and today after 15 years of controversy, the final year of
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the bcs ends without a debate. no doubt the best two teams in college football will be playing. florida state, 13-0. acc champs. and then on the other side, auburn. a miracle turn around this year. from worst to first. two of the most memorable last-second wins ever in college football. the game will be january 6th in pasadena. we've always got good weather in california when the game is there. now the super bowl the farmer as almanac is predicting a winter storm. and it will be interesting to see if it's like what we saw yesterday. >> no doubt, the next significant game to be played in the new york area will be the super bowl. of course, the college championship on january 6th. now we have a month of every bowl under the sun. like the season bowl. the dog food bowl.
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>> that's my favorite. >> andy scholes, thank you very much. so it's almost 10:00 in the east. do you know where your dog is? in south carolina, this husky was able to escape, sneak into a discount store and steal all kinds of treats. employees had no idea who or what was stealing the big ears, beef bones and other goodies, until they looked back at the videotape. the owner assures everyone that she feeds him every day. i've covered more than one pet who steals stuff. and it's not out of hunger. it's usually some kind of self-confidence issues. the next hour of cnn "newsroom" begins right now. good morning everyone. i'm john berman. carol costello is off today.
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a storm system that has dumped plenty of ice and snow from texas to pennsylvania and killed at least seven is expected to keep causing problems today. if you're heading to the airport, about 1100 flights are canceled. one man has been stuck at the dallas-ft. worth airport for days. he's venting on youtube. >> this is day four. i just don't understand why they can't get the ice off the runway. you know, i'm from canada. we've got four or five feet of snow on the runway. boom. plows go by. it's getting a bit silly. >> on the roads, heavy snows and icy roads have led to down right treacherous conditions. this five-mile stretch between chicago and will walk, a mess. and in new york, people say 30
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people were injured in a 24 plus plus car pileup. and it's causing an unusual problem, the weather. here is more. >> reporter: warmer weather was a welcome change on sunday. but it came at a cost in plano. >> holy, freaking moley. >> i mean my dog started barking and i heard the ice breakaway from the roof. you could hear it. >> reporter: she watched from the fifth floor and recorded this clip. sheets of ice slid off the roofs at northside legacy and parkside legacy. here is another angle. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: watch the vehicles bounce there. ice came down like bricks. shredding trees and shattering windows and crushing cars.
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>> wow. it's horrible. i hope they have insurance. i'm glad that nobody was walking their dogs because we have a lot of dogs in this neighborhood. >> reporter: and that is remarkable. swuk sidewalks just happened to be empty. no one hurt. leaving cars as the only casualty. at least eight of them damaged or destroyed. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: by melting ice, falling five stories. >> those cars, that is amazing. so lucky that no one was hurt there. indra petersen joins knee live. we have pretty cold weather. when are we going to see the temperatures starting to rise? >> everyone wants me to say quickly but that is not going to be the case. let's talk about what we have seen and then we'll get into what we're expecting to see. the snow totals, a good 8 inches of snow over in philly. in new york, it was beautiful. just a hint, about 1/10 of an
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inch in manhattan. but you the big thing is the ice. we were talking about the youtube video they showed us. they were talking about why can't these planes take off? snow is very different than the freezing rain. this morning in dallas, it's been freezing fog. and even freezing rain into the northeast of the places like connecticut saw just under a quarter of aen inch. and in jersey and down towards virginia they saw about a quarter of an inch of ice. things are looking so much better. however, there's still a chance for snow. not really the big concern. but kind of in towards the northeast we'll see that exit off. and keep in mind, there is another system out there. just as one leaves, while on the tail end, another low is forming. all you need to know, more snow on the way. so overnight tonight in through tomorrow, we're still going to be talking about snow.
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even more than we saw yesterday. about 1 to 3 inches expected. look at all these states, all feeling that chill am and it's not going to change for some time. once we get into the rest of the week, slowly it's going to take time to rebound, we're still going to be talking about these temperatures feeling like there a good 20, 30 degrees below normal. >> thank you so much. appreciate it. a special moment to show you between nelson mandela and his great grandson. it's believed to be the last photo taken of the iconic leader. take a look at this picture. it was just taken in may, a month before mandela was hospitalized. the boy's father said that he took the picture believing that it might be the last time to capture them together. this being released as world
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leaders prepare to attend memorials in mandela's honor. chris cuomo is in johannesburg. >> reporter: here in johannesburg, the long good-bye is in full effect. in front of the his house, the celebration is taking on the character of the man himself. there's a complexity, a lot of dancing and singing. but at the same time there's a sense of purpose that reflects what's going on inside the family's home where they're grieving for the loss of a loved one who meant so much to them and so much to the entire world. tuesday we'll see the largest gathering of world leaders in africa's history. the massive soccer stadium was big enough for the world cup. but the 90,000 seats will hold just a fraction mourners. leaders from at least a dozen countries will be here. united states president obama as well as two former presidents, presidents clinton and bush as
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well as their wives will be in attendance with many other american dignitaries. they will be joined by leaders of at least a dozen other countries. and more are continuing to join. >> madiba, this guy is the greatest. never like him and never see anything like him again. >> reporter: on sunday,,000s packs places of worship. different creeds and colors honoring the same man as father. >> it's a special mass for mr. madiba. peace. and we must hold that peace. so that where he is, he will be very pleased. >> reporter: tiers and cheers capturing the love of man deebia. but the greatest memorial may be the faces, black and white together. parents bring children who will live a life madiba helped make
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possible. >> they were born free and they express all the fruits of what he gave us. >> there is also loss. one man says he hasn't been able to sleep or eat since he heard the news. >> how can i live without madiba? i'm so sad. >> reporter: the long good-bye will continue all week adding to the legend and legacy of nelson mandela. we really have been seeing a combination of loss, reverence, and responsibility of. it's all kind of teeing up with promises what to be an epic memorial tomorrow. not since the death of john paul ii, the pope, have we seen this kind of outpouring around the world. just to think, four u.s. presidents. 95 dignitaries from around the world. and so many people packing the soccer stadium tomorrow. it promises to be a moment for
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the ages. >> celebration the likes of which we have not seen in generation. seven minutes after the hour right now. in the biggest upon zi scheme in history came crashing down five years ago this week. but to hear him talk about it now, he sounds anything but remorseful. in a rare prison interview, he says that he felt trapped into the con by other people. he also, in a way, blame his clients. madoff blames the victims. an article appears in today's "the wall street journal." it is a remarkable ride. he ruined squorz and scores of people. but in your interview he seems to suggest that they should have known better. >> absolutely. yeah. he said that a lot of -- the majority of his investors were sophisticated and they should have known better to invest in
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his fund. he was very secretive about his fund on wall street. and nobody was allowed to ask any questions. if they did, they weren't allowed to invest. and a lot of people invested without asking any questions and he said they shouldn't have done that. >> so prison hasn't apparently made him remorseful. are there any other ways that it has or hasn't changed him? >> it's been five years. and he did talk a lot about how he did try to get out of it, but he felt like he was pushed into it by others. and he also talked a lot about how the banks on wall street were complicit in his fraud. he said they knew what was going on and he could have got caught any time. he said the regulators had done their job, he would have been caught. >> and the personal side of your interview, also fascinating. madoff saying he's got nobody. he's all alone.
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>> that's right. he said he has 300 minutes to speak on the telephone. you know on the pay phone. but he has no one to talk to. his -- nobody in his immediate family talks to him. his wife refuses to talk to him. his remaining living son won't talk to him. his brother who was sentenced to ten years in prison in south carolina, he won't talk to him. the only people that visit him are his wife's nieces daughter's, and they go to a college nearby. but he says he doesn't have anyone to talk to. >> one other thing, far bee it for anybody these days to take investment advice from madoff, but he has opinions on the market today. >> he said if he had any money today, which of course he's in federal prison, he said if he had any money he wouldn't invest it in the market. he doesn't think it's fair for
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the individual investor. he thinks big firms on wall street and other financial firms have a much bigger advantage than individual investors. and he called the federal reserve stimulus the greatest manipulation in history. so that was interesting. but, yeah, he doesn't have a lot of faith in wall street. and he doesn't have a high opinion on hedge funds. he thinks they should be more regulated. so, yeah, he was quite opinionated on that. >> and he gets asked about investments all the time. there are people looking for advice from bernie madoff. >> he said inmates ask him all the time and even the prison guards. and at one point there was talk in the prison about him teaching a class. and according to him the prison warden mixed the idea because he thought it would be bad
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publicity for the prison. >> and it is a fascinating article in today's "the wall street journal." thank you for being with us. i appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> still to come for us. american and u.s. airways teaming up to be the world's largest airline. we'll tell you about the winners and losers in the deal. i will also talk with the ceo of the new megacarrier, coming up next. d" [ male announcer ] facing a season of tortuous conditions is one thing. but shaving without proglide... what are we, animals? gillette fusion proglide, for unrivaled comfort even on sensitive skin. gillette -- the best a man can get. even on sensitive skin.
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i'm with scottrade. (announcer) scottrade-proud to be ranked "best overall client experience." you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. zyrtec-d®. at the pharmacy counter. after overcome a seizures of legal hurdles, the world's largest airline is set to take flight. american airlines and u.s. airways are teaming up in a deal
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that is expected to close today. it will be called american airlines and it will trade under the ticker symbol aal. and for now, you can book tickets on both the brands, that's until the merger proceeds. until that's completed, you book separately. joining me from dallas is the man charged with leading this. doug parker, thank you for being with us this morning. >> of course. thank you. >> so one of american airlines major hubs dallas-ft. worth, has been hit pretty hard by the winter storm. more than 400 departures canceled today. do you have any messages for the customer stuck there? >> is's certainly been a very difficult weekend here in dallas-ft. worth with this ice storm. and our people are doing a wonderful job of taking care of
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a very difficult situation for our customers. and fortunately our customers are largely understanding of that we can't do much about the weather. the airport is gradually starting to come back. but it's unfortunately staying cold enough that the ice has melted to the way we would like. our challenge right now is making sure that we take care of people in the interim. and our team has done a really nice job of that. >> this merger making you the biggest airline in the world. the process expected to take 18 to 14 months to fully implement. what are the first changes that customers are likely to see? >> well, as we head -- as of today, right here before the holiday season, we made the choice not to try to put a lot of disruption of our customers or employees as we merge these two airlines. you won't see much today that's dramatically different other than signage in airports. but shortly after the new year
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we be begin to implement changes, such as frequent fliers. things that are incredibly important to our frequent flier customers. we'll start to roll in sometime in early january. and gradually over time you'll see the schedules begin to get combined. eventually through one combined network. it will be a gradual process of enhancements that will result in an airline that's better than any other in the world. >> one of the big concerns when we see all of these airline mergers is that competition goes down and there's a lot of fear among consumers that prices will go up. will you pledge to american airlines customers and u.s. airways customers, that you will not be raising prices? >> there are all sorts of things that impact prices, fuel, demand, the economy. they all come in to how we set
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our prices. this merger won't have any impact on that. this is a merger of two airlines that are highly complimentary. only 12 of our routes overlap over 900 route. we're not going to put the airlines together and reduce the supply of seats. nothing about this merger should therefore change in prices that wouldn't have happened otherwise. this merger is not going to be one thing that changes prices. >> am i going to be sitting here with you in two or three years talking about how american is merging with delta and united? and what's to keep it from more mergers? >> i don't know. first off, we anti-trust laws which we had to pass through this merger that will ensure that any mergers that happen in the future need to be competitive. this one certainly is. i don't know that there are other large mergers in our
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future. what i know is we have a competitive industry now. the merger of u.s. airways and american creates a third competitor for the united and delta. and being able to compete with each other for international traffic for the kind of global traffic around the united states and world. with a serious amount of competition with airlined such as southwest and jet blue and other competitors in the united states. i don't know that we're going to see any otherarge mergers in the future. but this one i know is very good for competition. >> a lot of people who fly domestically quite a bit talk about the age of the fleeted and inflight experience. what are your immediate plans to improve the inflight experience on american? >> we have a hundreds of aircraft on order between american and u.s. airways that will be used to come into the
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fleet and replace some other aircraft that are indeed getting toward the end of their useful life. so we will be upgrading the fleet. one of the big initiatives that we have we're putting two airlines together. but the other thing, as now with an airline the size of united and delta, you'll see the three of us that have the ability to fly pretty much all over the world. we'll need to compete more on the inflight product and not just the schedule itself. that will be good for consumers as well. >> thank you for being with us. congratulations on the merger. thanks for taking my u.s. air miles. i appreciate it. jury selection begins today in a murder trial of a montana woman accused of push be her new husband off a cliff. prosecutors say she pushed her hez over a cliff in glacier
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national park just eight days after they were married. the defense says this is a case of self-defense after the couple got in a heated argument. friends and family of a college student want to know what caused a campus cop to allegedly shoot and kill a star student. they describe him as sweet and gentle. many gathered this weekend to remember him. >> it's hard to think that he's gone. like he was here three days ago. we just saw him. and closure is one of those things that's going to take time. >> the story doesn't really make sense to any of us. and i think we're mostly just angry and want answers. >> the officer who is accused of killing him says the 23-year-old approached him and started the struggle. the police will not release any more details citing the ongoing investigation. 11 more pilot whales have
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been found dead if florida. officials believe they're part of a pod stranded near everglades national park. they're working to find out what's kill them. still to come. imagine waking up on a flight and being the only person left in a dark, empty cappen. >> i woke up and the lights were out. i was like, what's going on? >> hear him tell you how it happened and how in the world he got off that plane. that's ahead this hour. [ male announcer ] if you can clear a crowd but not your nasal congestion, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. zyrtec-d®. at the pharmacy counter. and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. it's donut friday at the office. aso every friday morning they psend me out to get the goods. but what they don't know is that i'm using my citi thankyou card at the coffee shop, so i get 2 times the points. and those points add up fast.
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all right. this just in to cnn. 49 people, including some current and former russian diplomats have been charged in a medicaid fraud scheme. what's new today, doesn't appear that it's just a case of stealing, but also spying as well. let's get the latest from evan perez. and again, this isn't just a case of stealing from the u.s. government but spying on the government too? >> reporter: right. it looks like these are russian spies who were opposeding as poor people, according to sources we've talked to. they apparently were defrauding the government, the medicaid program of $1.5 million over the past nine years. and now these are 49 russian diplomats and their wives. some of them still in the country. they have diplomatic immunity so it's not clear whether they can be arrested, probably they can't unless the russian government allows it.
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now, this is part of a back and forth between the united states and russia over spying, if you remember in 2010, there was a group called the illegals who were accused of posing as entrepreneurs, business people and being sleeper agents for the russian spy service. and earlier this year the russians decided to expose a cia spy that they said was trying to meet people wearing wigs. in this case, we're told that this -- these allegations about spying, they just didn't have enough to bring a case against these 49 or against the 11 that remain in this country. but the allegations of defra defrauding medicaid, which is the program to provide for the poor, is probably more embarrassing to the russian government than even any spying allegations. >> is there a connection between the fraud and the spying or were they here allegedly to spy and
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just because they had the time, decided to billing medicaid in the meantime? >> that's one of the many questions that remains unanswered. a lot of the people who work as diplomats, especially for the russian embassy are believed to also be doing spy duty. the fbi says that that kind of activity is at its highest point since the cold war. so it's not clear whether this was all a game to defraud the government. the attorney in manhattan says that this was one big corrupt group of diplomats who were spending some of this money that they were saving on their medical care they were spending it at prada and blooming details. >> and embarrassing to say the least. they have a lot to talk about here. still to come for us, icy roads and heavy snow causing plenty of this across the
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country. crashes. huge pileups. we're going to have a live report from along new jersey's heavily traveled turnpike. that's just ahead. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?
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welcome back everyone. i'm john berman in new york. the railroad line involving the deadly train derailment is announcing new safety upgrades. signals will alert train engineers to reduce speed when approaching the curve where the train derailed. that train jumped the tracked while heading into a curve at 82 miles per hour. that is nearly three times the posted speed limit. former sbag mayor bob filner in court today to face sentencing for kissing and grabbing. he resigned from office. he is not expected to go to jail, but he will be on probation for three years. concern over the spread of meningitis b has heightened on the campus of princeton
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university. starting today, the university is offering thousands of students a vaccine, one that has not been licensed for use in the u.s. cnn's senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen joins me now. >> they have a choice today. no one is making these students do anything. they can get the vaccine or leave themselves vulnerable to getting meningitis. let's look at the consequences of each of those. if you leave yourself vulnerable to meningitis, it can cause hearing loss, brain damage, kidney damage, loss of limb. and one of those people will happen to one in five people who get meningitis. one in five will get one of those things or something similar that i listed. and one in ten people that get meningitis will die from it. let's look at the consequences. you can get mild soreness at the injection site and may possibly
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get a temporary fever. those are more common side effects. there are extraordinarily rare that are much worse, but again, these are extraordinariy lily r >> what are medical experts telling us to do. >> they said, absolutely, i would tell them to get the vaccine. one of them said, my child would be first in line to get the vaccine. he said meningitis can get you very sick, very, very quickly. >> it is a serious, serious issue. elizabeth cohen, thanks so much for being us. still to come, eight days after they were married, a montana woman is accused of pushing her husband to his death. she says it was an accident. but prosecutors say, not so fast. we'll break down this case. coming up next. well you know that beats great mileage or being fun to drive. yeah, that'd be like someone being loud or clear.
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prosecutor say cody johnson fell face first after his wife allegedly pushed him over a cliff with both hands back in july. jordan fwram is on trial for the murder of her husband just eight days after they were married. her defense team says this was all an accident and jordan was simply trying to push his arm
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away after a heated argument. let's talk about more with this criminal defense attorney in atlanta. let's start with the defense. seems like a difficult case to prove that a wife mistakenly pushes her husband off a cliff. that's an awfully big mistake to make. >> it is. it's a very difficult defense to prove especially when you have the person who is on trial already making inconsistent statements about what she said happened. you know, the first story was he went out with friends, he diplomat come back. and only later did she change her story to say it was self-defense. i thought he was grabbing for me. i tried to move my arm away and somehow in the scuffle he ended up falling over the side of a cliff. they have an incredible burden to meet in this trial. >> that said, no one else was there. and now the prosecutor says, suggests that the husband was pushed face first off the cliff. how do they prove that? >> there was a pretrial hearing
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to determine whether the prosecutors could use a blindfold that they found at the bottom of the cliff. there is dna evidence on that clots that the prosecutors will attempt to try to their theory that she blindfolded him and brought him to this point. the judge said right now i'm not going to allow this in. i don't see the connection. so it may come in later at trial. >> we're expected to hear a whole lot of forensics experts talking to us about how he was pushed and shoved. >> when you don't have eyewitnesses, you really need to piece together the other evidence in the case. here it's forensics. i also understand there's communication evidence about e-mails and other discussions that she may have had with other individuals to try to coverup where she was that day. we're going to hear a lot of testimony and it will be up to
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the prosecution to try to bind it together with a theory that works. >> what about jordan graham? it's always a big risk to put defendant on the stand. but in this case you need to curry sympathy with the jury. might it be a risk worth taking putting her on the stand? >> i think so. but good defense lawyers will always wait until that point in the trial when they have to make the decision. usually if the client has made statements to the government that help her, then you won't put her up on the stand. we saw that in the zimmerman case. here her statements hurt her. so i think they'll put her on the stand to at least explain those statements. >> this was eight days after they were married. i have to believe that's just going to hang over the jury this entire case. eight days. this is not how newlyweds are supposed to act.
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>> far from it. there was evidence that she had even threatened to kill her parents. the judge did disallow that. prosecutors said this shows her intent, that it was not an accident. but at this point the evidence is not coming in. but the prosecutors still have a very solid case. >> thanks for being with us. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ nothing says, "you're my #1 copilot," like a milk-bone biscuit. ♪ say it with milk-bone. a man who doesn't stand still. but jim has afib, atrial fibrillation --
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get help right away if you develop any symptoms like bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto® and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto® is not for patients with artificial heart valves. jim changed his routine. ask your doctor about xarelto®. once a day xarelto® means no regular blood monitoring -- no known dietary restrictions. for more information and savings options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. for more information and savings options, i'm bethand i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store.
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anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. so you have time to focus on the things you love. ink from chase. so you can. welcome back, everyone. as world leaders head to south africa to join residents there to celebrate the life and legacy of nelson mandela, we're learning more about the man who was closest to them. among them a noted poet and author who wrote and recited a
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tribute to nelson mandela on behalf of the mesh people. she spoke to anderson cooper about her friend in this week's "american journey". >> i watched the poem and watch you recite it, you refer to him as david, but as our david's, the world's david and our gideon. >> the truth is we have -- many of us are davids. a man, a woman, we can all be that particular person who has enough courage to stand up and say, i am one. i have enough courage to dare to be a lover not an indulger, but somebody who dares to love. now that is what nelson mandela was about. he had enough courage to say i -- i -- you may call me. i am a pepper who dares to care
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for other human beings. and you see, one of the reasons i said this to you some time ago when i had the pleasure of speaking to you, anderson cooper, i like the fact that you have enough courage to stand up. courage is the most important of all the virtues. it's true. it's true. he was a courageous human being. and full of the idea that he was on a journey. and he had something to do. he had a place to be. and it's fabulous to realize that there's an old spiritual, old gospel song, which is ♪ i'm on my journey now, mountain zie yon, and i wouldn't take nothing, mountain zie yon from my journey now ♪ >> he was on a journey and he
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knew it. and he had something to do. and this is what each of us has. if we have enough courage, we can say, i'm on a journey. i have a charge to keep. >> that is so moving. dr. angelou first met nelson mandela back in the 1960s. flights canceled, cars piling up and millions of people left stranded because of a winter storm that has duchled heavy snow and ice across much of the northwest. this has become a familiar scene. traffic coming to a standstill because of slick and treacherous driving conditions. >> heading out for a morning drive just to enjoy the beauty. and see the unique snow fall here in st. george. and we happened upon all the cars. >> if i had known it would be like this, i would have flown back.
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>> oh, my god. >> and look at that. that's sheets of ice cascading down from buildings and crashing yobt cars in the dallas area. no one has hurt. the cars severely damaged. and if you watched the philadelphia eagles and troy lions game yesterday, if you can see through the snowflakes, you probably saw the players slipping and sliding across the field all day. not to mention creative work from the field crews there. rosa flores joins us now in richfield, naurnl. how are things now? >> reporter: john, slick, wet road conditions are what drivers are expecting. we talked to a driver who made a 180 on the interstate. and let's say that he's counting his blessings this morning. we have plight precipitation. and if you take a look, visibility is one of the things that emergency officials are
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tell us that they're worried about. clouds are low, visibility is low. they're worried about that. i just got off the phone with the new jersey department of transportation, and they say that they said 800 trucks out overnight plowing and spreading salt to make sure the roadways were as good as can be for drivers. i also talked to the emergency management. and they tell me that in new jersey, they saw almost a slit. now the storm was moving from south to north. and the conditions initially were really bad in the southern part of new jersey. now they're experiencing more flooding and ponding in that part of the state. so they're asking drivers to be very, very careful, not to drive in ponding situations. now the northern part of the state, which is where i'm at right now, they tell us it's the snow and sleet. it's in the 30s right now. so they're worried about that. they're asking drivers to be extremely careful in these conditions. because as you just saw, visibility is very low. you mentioned flights.
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about 1,000 flights were canceled throughout the united states today. that's an improvement. yesterday was about 2600 flights. so it's been dangerous. i also talked to state police. they say they're not monitoring any serious wrecks in new jersey right now. but overnight there was a 20-plus car pile up in yonkers, new york. so the conditions are treacherous, like you mentioned. the advise, pack your patience and be very careful. >> rosa flores, stay warm out there. we really appreciate it. the weather not just causing problems and headaches for humans. i want to show you a picture right now. that's a deer in need of help after falling in a river near chicago. rescuers have jumped into the water. they're working their way toward that stranded deer trying to do what they can. you can see someone in the water
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right now. those deer can move awfully quickly. hopefully they'll be able to get to him and get him out of the water as soon as possible. up next for us. a story that you would only expect out of a movie. a traveler wakes up after a flight all alone, locked in a dark cabin of a grounded plane. when he calls his girl for help, she didn't believe him. he'll explain how in the world he got in there and out of there. coming up next. did you know more coffee drinkers
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so, you hate the thought of a long flight? well, imagine being trapped on a plane alone and in the dark. tom wagner thought he was just taking a quick nap on his flight. but when he woke up, everyone was dpon and the cabin kwaz totally empty. he spoke to "new day" this morning about his bizarre adventure. >> i happen to look up and the lights were out. i was like, well, what's going on here? and then i was like, i looked out in the aisles and nobody was there. i got up, i walked around, i had to go to the bathroom. so i worked my way to the back and found it. and i called my girlfriend, debbie, i said listen, you got to call the airlines, i'm locked in the plane. i got a lot of questions like didn't you feel when you landed?
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and i was like, well, i work on -- i'm a captain on a cash cash i work for the offshore oil field industry, and sleeping and bouncing around is kind of the norm. >> what do you say to the gate agents? >> well, they were like, what are you doing on this plane? and i said, oh, i was a passenger. and i woke up and i was locked in the plane. ment workers came on first. they was the ones who found me. i was going to open the door, the boarding door. and i had my hand on the handle. i said, no, no. i better not do that. and a couple of minutes later, the other side door starting opening up. and the one worker come in and said who are you? and what are you doing on this plane? i said, dude, i was a passenger on the plane. i fell asleep and woke up. >> they gave you a travel voucher. will you be traveling with them every again? >> i've traveled back on my
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return flyweigight to louisiana >> they told us that there was a post flight cabin inspection but the company could not explain how wagner was overlooked. thanks for joining us today. i'm john berman. "legal view" with ashleigh banfield starts now. >> 1500 more flights canceled this morning. and that is an improvement over yesterday. but this winter storm is not done yet. the forecast, you may not want to hear, coming up next. also this hour, she became a widow just eight days after promising till death do us part. now she's on trial for murder. trying to convince a jury that she didn't mean to push her new husband off of a cliff. and works been piling up around the house. and